BUFFALO - Joining dozens of communities across the country, trained Buffalo police officers have started to carry a temporary antidote for drug overdoses.

"Minutes make a difference,” said Mayor Byron Brown. “There’s another side to public safety and there’s another side to law enforcement and that’s the potential to save lives. Those who overdose are somebody’s child and somebody’s family member. This new anti-crime effort is a matter of public safety. If we can save one life, this program was worth it.”

Training police to use this life saving antidote comes at a time when a growing number of people are struggling with heroin and prescription drug addiction across the country. Prescription drug abuse is now deemed an epidemic by the Centers for Disease and Control but when the supply of oxycodone or other painkillers runs low or grows too expensive, many drug abusers switch to heroin.

“Narcan is just one resource we’re deploying to make our community safer from drugs” said Buffalo Police Commissioner Dan Derenda. “I think Narcan will play an important part in saving lives.”
Narcan has been used for many years by doctors in emergency rooms. It is administered by nasal spray and can delay the effects of an opioid for 90 minutes, enough time to get an overdose victim to a hospital for life-saving treatment. Mayor Brown stressed that while this new anti-crime effort is about preventing a fatal accident, rehabilitation and drug enforcement are still critical to stemming the epidemic.